


A Transfer Student, Twice Over

by ThaddeusBandido



Series: T Ban's Idiots in Inaba AU Fics [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, Idiots in Inaba AU, Male-Female Friendship, moving schools, pre-AnnShiho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 13:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15642186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThaddeusBandido/pseuds/ThaddeusBandido
Summary: Akira faces the day he's been pushing out of his mind for a whole year: transferring back into his old class at Yasogami High.Thankfully, unknowingly, someone's already made that move ahead of him.





	A Transfer Student, Twice Over

**Author's Note:**

> This is generally inspired by all of the Idiots in Inaba AU content out there and explicitly by this comic made by Mangopops: https://twitter.com/mangorijima/status/921860988126810112
> 
> I wanted to write what this exchange would be like from Akira's point of view, and it very quickly ran away from me in a good way.
> 
> Just because he's away from his found family for a year doesn't mean that Akira has to be a sad boy.

Things weren’t going to be any easier the second time.

The main difference was that, this time, Akira knew the way to his new school by heart.

Thankfully, some things stayed the same. Akira felt his bag shift as Morgana worked his head out of the zipper to nag him amicably. “We need to hurry, Akira! You need to make a good impression on your class,” the cat prodded.

“Right, _if_ an impression can even be made at this point,” Akira muttered. He waited to continue that thought as some other Yasogami High students walked by out of earshot.

“Remember, these are people who knew me before I got shipped off to Tokyo. They didn’t...” He trailed off—another pause. “No one really believed me when I told them what happened with Shido and the false charges. I’m not sure what the class is going to be like. I’m not exactly optimistic about it being something I want to deal with, either.”

“Rumors?”

“No, I think I’ve figured out how to ignore those at this point. Either unending apologies or acting like nothing happened—those would be things I don’t think I trust myself to handle at this point.”

Morgana was silent for a few moments, thinking over the answer he had received. “So, what’s the plan?”

Akira let out a small sigh that was more felt than heard. “Put on a smile and hope for the best?”

Morgana had nothing to say to that, so he snarked at him instead: “You don't put on smiles, you put on smirks. There’s a big difference."

He ducked into the bag before Akira could bop him on the head.

* * *

Akira let his memory drift to the previous day’s reintroduction to the principal and his homeroom teacher.

“Here is your Student ID.”

Akira nodded silently. Of the three adults in the room, the principal did most of the conversational heavy lifting. His mother was there, but only because the principal requested it. Akira’s new homeroom teacher could hardly look him square in the eye (like his parents just after his return, just like the people he thought he recognized around town to this day—)

His thoughts were interrupted as the principal continued, “Please report to the faculty office tomorrow morning before first period so that Nagai-sensei can introduce you to her class.”

The teacher bowed deeply, adding, “I am looking forward to this upcoming year.” She held her bow slightly too long and tried her best to hide her fidgeting.

Akira unfortunately sized up the situation fairly quickly: she's afraid of him. He decided not to push too hard, especially with his mother present right beside him. Instead, he returned the bow and stated simply, “Please take good care of me. I hope my year away won't provide too much distraction to the class. It's possible that many of them will remember me.”

The principal sucked in a big breath through his nose at the mention of last year. _What, was he trying to avoid the elephant in the room?_ Akira was slightly disappointed, but tried not to let it show. He instead let the quiet in the room coalesce until someone else had the gall to cut the tension that had grown so quickly.

From right beside him, his mother saved everyone from the suffocating silence by pointedly asking, “Will the school help him if other students try to pick on him? We need to know if the school will support Akira-kun after all he's been through.”

The principal made a placating gesture toward Mrs. Kurusu before the room became any more hostile, quickly interjecting, “I understand your concern,” before turning his attention to Akira. He reassured, “If you have any issues with other students, you are free to ask for help from the Student Council or the faculty office. They will absolutely help you, I will make sure of it.” The principal sighed as he addressed both of them. “Communication is key, after all.”

 _Only now, huh?_ , a spiteful part of Akira’s brain supplied; “Understood, sir,” his mouth said instead. His mother took a calming breath before nodding her begrudging approval.

“So," the principal started stiltedly, “is there anything you would like to ask before we start classes tomorrow?” He clearly wanted to leave.

“Yes, actually.” When the principal and teacher tensed subtly, Akira tried to ignore it. He could win some points with them if this went alright. If it didn’t… well, he’d cross that bridge if he got there. Akira jostled his bag twice to make sure he had his unwilling participant aware of the stunt he was about to pull.

Akira undid one of the latches on his bag and continued at the principal’s beckoning, “Shujin Academy allowed me to bring my therapy cat to class, and he has been an excellent, um, companion for me over the past year.” He admonished himself for almost calling Morgana his _partner in crime_. Now was not the time for crime puns.

On cue, Morgana’s head popped out of the bag with a small meow. Akira gave him a scratch between the ears as he piled on the plea, “He is extremely well behaved and slept in my desk for the majority of the last school year. He is very smart, and he will not interrupt class.”

His mother hadn’t known that Morgana was there, if her eyebrows shooting skyward were any indication. The principal looked skeptical, but Ms. Nagai was staring at Morgana with the gaze of a cat lover, clenching her fists in a battle of wills with herself. _Bingo._

Eventually, she broke. “May I pet him?” Akira immediately obliged, pulling Morgana out of the bag and presenting him to Ms. Nagai for polite head scratches. Morgana played up his affection and purred like a small motor, melting the once fidgety teacher and bleeding some of the tension from the room.

Akira took the lapse in conversation to press the issue. “He’s very friendly with a few people around, but gets a little panicky in the center of a crowd. I'm fine with people knowing about Morgana, but if I could avoid having his presence announced to the class, that would probably be best,” he suggested coolly. Akira pressed his luck and proffered the cat Simba-style toward the principal, who waved him off. He settled Morgana back into his bag before he continued, “Most of the other students at Shujin weren't aware of his presence, even in my class. People would get distracted if they knew he was there from the start, and forget that he's a service animal doing a job.”

The principal sighed, and said, “Usually we would need to make sure that none of the other students would have allergic reactions, and verify his immunizations, but…” he paused, giving a sidelong glance at Ms. Nagai, who was clearly keeping her hopes very high, “...if you can keep this quiet for now, we can worry about the paperwork later.”

Akira glanced at his mother and shot her a small smile. (Not a smirk. Definitely not a smirk.) His mother gave him a neutral look in return that could only be interpreted as _we are talking about this later_.

* * *

Entering the school grounds of Yasogami in uniform for the first time in two years invoked a twisted mess of convoluted feelings, which he attempted to shove down and store away before it could mix with his growing anxiety. “Going back to Yasogami” had always been some far off thing, and there was plenty happenings in Tokyo that took his mind away from his inevitable return and all of the complications that came with it. Meeting the eyes of his former classmates. Subverting his reputation with new classmates. Hoping the faculty attempts to give him a fair shake.

Starting to count the days until his return to Yongen-Jaya.

The whispers and open gawking started the minute he entered the classroom building. Akira moved his hand to adjust his glasses, but tapped the bridge of his nose before realizing he wasn't wearing his fakes. _I must be more nervous than I thought_ , he mused and then immediately quashed. He made a beeline for the faculty office before he allowed the unwanted attention to infiltrate his singular purpose: get through day one without cracking.

Akira reached the faculty office early, and a hastily written “TEACHER'S MEETING IN PROGRESS" was written on a piece of paper taped to the door. He sighed and looked out at the sea of black and yellow uniforms in the courtyard below… and one white sweater in the corner…?

The door to the faculty office swung open, and Ms. Nagai came out to greet Akira, who whirled around to face her. “Kurusu-kun, thanks for waiting out here. Class is going to start soon, so I will walk you to class once everyone else is seated.”

He sat at a chair next to her desk, which was extraordinarily clean. She was filling out some extraneous paperwork when Akira got the nerve to let himself hope and ask, “Nagai-sensei, do you have any other transfer students in your class?”

She fixed him with a puzzled look before answering, “Yes, I have one girl…” Ms. Nagai trailed off lightly. “She’s nice, but fairly distant. Absorbed in her phone, but that's the age for that. She doesn't really talk to many of her classmates, but she's also not disruptive so—"

Ms. Nagai was interrupted by the final bell, bouncing slightly in her seat. She mumbled to herself, “Okay, it's time.” The teacher took one deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth…

And her demeanor completely shifted. She shot up, clapped once, and started marching out of the office and toward the classroom, gesturing for Akira to follow. “Okay, Kurusu-kun, time to meet your classmates! I hope this year will be good for you!”

Completely blindsided, Akira blurted out his thanks and struggled to keep up.

* * *

When the two got to the classroom, Ms. Nagai stopped just shy of the door and turned to Akira and asked, “Ready?” He simply nodded in response, and she slid the door open at charged into the class at full walking speed. She started talking before reaching the podium.

“Okay everyone! We have a new student joining us today. Well, not new, exactly, but he’s returning here from Tokyo...!”

Akira walked in and time slowed as he quickly surveyed the faces of everyone in the room, starting in the front. Most of them he recognized at least in passing, a few former friends, _that'll be a hard conversation_ , former gymnastics teammates, an old next-door neighbor, _hasn't talked to me since the night before I got shipped off_ , ex-girlfriend, _oh god no_ , group project partners, classmates that voted for him to be class rep once upon a time, looks of anger, shame, and poorly-hidden disbelief, boarded up behind passive faces of politeness and nailed down by social convention, he should've known everyone here would despise him—

Of course he recognized that sweater.

_It's her._

In the back right corner of the class, with the only open seat in the class in front of her, is a starry-eyed Shiho Suzui, who is likely thanking whatever forces of fate allowed this to happen.

_Be cool, Akira._

Ms. Nagai’s voice cut through his focus. “Please, introduce yourself!”

The few students pointedly not looking at him didn't exist in his mind, currently, as he tried to keep his excitement from leaking into his voice. “Kurusu Akira. It’s nice to be back.”

Ms. Nagai clapped, “Wonderful! Please take the open seat near the window!” as if Akira would sit anywhere else. He tried not to show the excitement on his face as he moved to sit down.

_Be COOL, Akira._

He peeked over his shoulder, [“It's been a while, hasn't it, Shiho-san?”](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMsboNiVAAAj12q.jpg)

Akira could hear her let off a very quiet, bitten down whine of pure excitement.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn't also internally shouting.

* * *

He didn't remember any of that day’s lessons.

* * *

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Shiho instantly appeared in front of him, inadvertently warding him from his other classmates and saving him from those inevitable conversations. “We should do lunch today! Come with me.” Akira burst out of his seat to follow, paying no mind to anyone else in the room.

They found a secluded section of the courtyard where they could have at least a little privacy. Once they were alone, she rounded on him and demanded, “I need a selfie and you have longer arms than I do,” handing him her phone.

His eyes went wide as he took it, already in photo mode. “Trusting me with your phone already?”

She scoffed lightly and shot him a look, retorting, “Ann would have told me if she knew you were coming here. The least I have to do is drop this on her with almost no warning and roast her for not figuring it out.”

Akira couldn't help but laugh, uncharacteristically loud and free. Shiho bit her lip in a vain attempt to keep her laughter contained, eventually giving in. After a few calming breaths, he held up the phone and readied his most casual look. “Okay, peace signs.” Shiho posed and he took the strongest selfie of his life.

_Snap._

Shiho snatched her phone back, admiring the selfie. “God, this is going to destroy her in the best way.” She looked to Akira. “Let’s make a deal real quick. Don’t tell her anything until I send this, okay? This has got to have maximum impact.”

Akira flashed a smirk, and agreed, “Yeah, deal. Maybe I'll make a group chat for us and the blondes so we can combine our roasting powers. Nothing like good, old-fashioned teamwork—"

His stomach interrupted with a gurgle and the previous train of thought was dropped. He relented, “Maybe we should eat our lunch.”

Shiho agreed, so they sat in their corner and got their food from their school bags. Then, Akira pulled a can of tuna from his bag and popped the lid, catching Shiho’s attention and subsequent confusion.

Before she could ask, Morgana hopped out of Akira’s bag and she gasped lightly, resisting the urge to immediately pet him.

Akira introduced, “This is Morgana. He's a sweetheart, and he can't deny it because he's face down in his food.”

Morgana bitterly replied, “I'll get you back for this, Joker,” which only came out as mid-meal meows to Shiho, who felt her heart clench a little at the sight, completely unaware of the two-way conversation.

Shiho reached a hand halfway to Morgana and asked Akira, “Can I?”

“Go for it.”

As soon as Shiho’s hand landed right between Morgana’s ears, any and all animosity the cat had evaporated.

* * *

Shiho didn’t have any after-school commitments, so she invited Akira to walk the Samegawa Flood Plain with her. “So we can catch up!” is what she said, and Akira agreed, wanting to get to know Ann’s (plainly and painfully obvious) crush a little better. But…

“Catching up?” He mumbled, after finding an empty place where he could consult with Morgana.

“Well, she is close with Lady Ann, maybe she’s concerned about you?”

“Probably true. But we only talked twice, maybe three times in Tokyo? She hardly knows me, outside whatever Ann’s told her about.” Akira paused to think. “I don’t think Ann would fess up to being in the Thieves to her. She knew it was too dangerous to rope people in recklessly like that.”

Morgana sniffed. “Lady Ann would never do that! You’re still suspecting that Shiho-san knows something, though.”

“Right.”

Both of them were silent for a bit, thinking through a solution to their predicament. Morgana’s tail swished as his thoughts formed into a coherent plan. He started, “Is this Samegawa place remote?”

Akira shrugged, “Not really, but if you leave the path for the bank of the flood plain, you can get away from any obvious prying ears.”

“Enough to talk Phantom Thieves business?”

Akira’s eyes betrayed a glimpse of mirth. “Considering we talked about targets in broad daylight in the accessway in Shibuya Station, I think we’ll be fine to prod a little.”

Morgana headbutted Akira’s chest and started to get into his bag. He summarized: “So we go to the flood plain, get away from the path, and talk business. Sounds like a plan to me.”

Akira scratched Morgana on the chin before heading back to class.

* * *

April in Inaba meant that there were a few good hours of daylight after school. With the sun low and to their backs, Shiho and Akira walked the path of the Samegawa Flood Plain lazily, trading small talk like new old friends: Akira noting how well Shiho was walking. Shiho trying to visualize for Akira what Ryuji looks like with undyed hair. Akira regaling Shiho with lavish descriptions of Sojiro’s perfect coffee.

Shiho’s defense of telling middle school Ann that her art sucked.

Akira’s defense of trying the Big Bang Burger challenge, as Ann described to Shiho, “too many times to be alive.”

Shiho’s failed attempt to sport pigtails.

Akira’s idle musings about dying his hair.

Finally, they reached a companionable silence after two laps of the path along the flood plain. Akira noticed that there was a clearing near the bank of the stream, devoid of anyone else, with a bench invitingly perfect for sitting. He bumped Shiho’s shoulder and nodded toward the clearing and suggested, “Why don’t we take a break and rest our legs a little? Morgana’s getting a little antsy, too.”

Shiho nodded, and they set their bags and bodies down on the bench, letting their legs rest for the first time in at least an hour. Morgana hopped out of Akira’s bag and began to nuzzle Shiho, who just giggled and pet the needy cat.

[Shiho pulled out her phone and flashed her IM with Ann over to Akira for his approval.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMsbossUQAA9Gdv.jpg) Akira appraised her handiwork, clicking his tongue a couple of times before handing down his judgment.

“This is a fine roast, Shiho-san.”

They both snickered.

Both of them took in the stream in front of them. It was peaceful.

“You know,” Shiho started, “I thought I was going to be stuck out here alone. I thought I would have been able to prepare myself for that, too.” A long gap of quiet stretched on as she scratched Morgana between the ears—only the sounds of the flowing water and Morgana’s purring taking up the space while Shiho gathered her thoughts.

“I think I realized I was lying to myself once again, the second you walked through the door.”

Akira was now paying full attention to her, everything else forgotten.

She continued, “Every time I try to think of someone who tried to be a pillar of self-reliance, who thought they needed help from no one, or couldn’t get help from anyone, I just think about how terribly that ended up being for them.” She smiled at him sadly, “We both know two very blonde examples of that.”

That sparked Akira’s curiosity. He prompted, “I noticed that Ryuji and Ann weren’t on a first name basis when I first met them. It wasn’t until later that they opened up and began to act like old friends. Brother and sister, even.”

“They had an…” Shiho trailed off, searching for the right word. “‘Argument’ doesn’t convey the amount of hurt thrown between the two of them. Have they… have they told you about their freshman year?” Akira nodded solemnly before Shiho moved on. “Ryuji was going through the worst of his family struggles and Ann’s parents were around less and less.”

Akira filled in the gaps. “Ann needed a support system that wasn’t there and Ryuji got his leg broken.”

Shiho nodded. “I wasn’t in a place where I could support them. Ryuji tried to lean on Ann for support, and Ann couldn’t bear the load. They stopped supporting each other and we all toppled. Ann was there for me after, but she still had her own issues to deal with. She’s always so supportive, but she was wearing herself so thin…”

 _Because she’s in love with you_ , Akira didn’t say.

“But now they’re supporting each other, stronger than ever before,” Akira said instead.

Shiho smiled warmly at him. “That’s your doing, Akira-kun.” Akira was about to downplay his work, but Shiho quickly cut him off, continuing, “Don’t you dare say that it wasn’t you. Both of them did a lot of growing up very quickly, and they both care about you so much. It was odd if a conversation I had with either of them didn’t involve you somehow.”

Akira was somewhat shaken by that revelation. He knew they were tight-knit, but hearing it from someone who was a virtual stranger until today was touching in a way he wasn’t prepared for.

Shiho stood in front of him, seemingly steeling herself for something. She then said, “Akira-kun, can I give you a hug?”

Akira’s brain was running miles per second. Not trusting his words beyond a befuddled “sure,” he stood and was instantly wrapped in Shiho’s arms. He hugged back firmly. He felt her reposition her head slightly. She whispered to him:

“Thanks for keeping Ann safe, leader.”

Akira went rigid and Shiho hugged a little tighter to acknowledge the bomb she just dropped.

She let go and sat back down with a big sigh. Akira sat down, dazed, unsure where to start unraveling that sentence. _Why not the beginning_ , his brain offered.

“You know.”

Shiho nodded mutely.

“You think Ann was involved.”

“I _know_ Ann was involved. Please give me a little credit.”

Akira blinked. “How?”

“Do you want the serious answer or the fun answer?”

“Shiho…” Akira wasn’t cognizant of dropping the formality.

“Shido’s calling card. I could pick out those pigtails and curves with my eyes closed.”

She saw _something_ reflect in his eyes, but he didn’t laugh. “What’s the serious answer, then?”

“Place and time." Shiho stopped and visibly braced herself. “When Ann told me in the hospital about how that bastard went down, I knew it couldn’t have been anyone else.” Another deep breath. “She’d always been so protective of me. Between that, her repaired friendship with Ryuji, and the glowing praise for the new transfer student, I pieced it together.”

Akira gave Shiho a muted smile and let his brain work through a way to spill the beans for everyone else. “I’ll need to talk to everyone, but maybe we can arrange story time back at Cafe Leblanc during Golden Week.”

Shiho interjected, “Ryuji will be there too, right?”

Akira had given up the charade this point and simply nodded before continuing, “There’s… a lot of parts of that story that a bunch of us probably don’t want to return to, obviously, but the barebones story is still outlandish enough that you won’t believe a word we say.”

A daring look returned to Shiho’s eyes. “Is that a statement of fact or a challenge?”

Akira returned an equally amused look. “It can be both, can’t it?”

Shiho let off a small laugh, killing off the tension of the conversation. “Any tidbits that would give me an idea of what to expect?”

Looking straight at Morgana, Akira asked, “How many people have passed by on the path in the time that we’ve been sitting here, Morgana?”

Morgana stretched and replied without hesitation, “Sixteen.”

Shiho had to react. “Wait, did you just talk to the cat?”

Akira simply looked to Shiho, waited a beat, and relayed, “He's been keeping watch this whole time, despite all other appearances. Mona said ‘sixteen,’ by the way.”

Morgana leapt onto the bench and headbutted Shiho lovingly in the bicep. Utterly confused, she simply reverted to petting the apparently intelligent cat at the base of the tail.

Akira stood up with a full body stretch and shot an impish smirk at a bewildered Shiho.

“The story gets weirder from there.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to marrrow for being my beta reader and helping me whip this fic into shape!


End file.
